KISS Rock Hall Reunion- Aerosmith Not Welcome on Idol- Cradle of Filth Vs IRS- Trent Reznor Drops Vampire Project- Chickenfoot- High On Fire Earth Quake Prone?- more

Godsmack frontman Sully Erna will head out on his first solo tour in May and June of this year, with dates and venues yet to be announced. more

Bloody Request For Slayer

(Gibson) Despite the temporary absence of founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman due to an infection possibly caused by a spider bite, Slayer have continued on their worldwide tour, with Exodus' Gary Holt sitting in. During a recent run through Australia, members of the band sat down with Triple M radio to talk about their rabid fan base.

Asked about the "strangest bit of loyalty" the band have seen from fans, guitarist Kerry King recalled a man in Spain who had lined up to meet the band after a show and was very insistent that the group use his "pen" for an autograph.

"I'm like, 'No, I've got my own pen.' So I can tell he wants me to use [his] and he hands me a scalpel and wants me to carve something into him." And did he? "Nope. I don't want to get his blood all over me. As much as I'd enjoy mutilating a person — it would be awesome — I did not do it." more on this story

Iron Maiden Cancel Tour

(hennemusic) With the devastating earthquake and damage in Japan this week, Iron Maiden announced that they would cancel their scheduled shows in that country.

On Friday, Iron Maiden were flying into Tokyo from Seoul, South Korea following their show there; on approaching Narita Airport in Tokyo, Ed Force One was advised to reroute to Nagoya, as the earthquake/tsunami had just become apparent. The band stayed the night in Nagoya and, following the announcement of the cancellation, are preparing to fly out.

Steve Harris issued a message, on behalf of the band, to fans in Japan and all who have been affected by this terrible disaster. Read it here

Zakk Wylde Unplugged

(hennemusic) Black Label Society frontman/guitarist Zakk Wylde has announced the upcoming release of "The Song Remains Not The Same" on May 3.

The offering features unplugged versions of material from Black Label Society's latest album, "Order Of The Black," as well as additional material recorded during the same sessions.

BLS cover a few major tracks, including "Can't Find My Way Home" (Blind Faith), "Junior's Eyes" (Black Sabbath), "Helpless" (CSNY) and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Simon & Garfunkel). more on this story

Mike Starr Public Memorial Announced

(hennemusic) The official public gathering for former Alice In Chains bassist Mike Starr's memorial will be held on Sunday, March 20 between 4:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. at "The Fountain" (Seattle Center) in Seattle, Washington.

Starr, 44, was found dead last Tuesday (March 8th) afternoon in a house in Salt Lake City.

The Salt Lake City Tribune reports Starr was living with Spencer Roddan, a fellow musician who had known Starr for several years after being introduced to him by a friend, Travis Meeks. Roddan and Meeks met while in rehab at Utah's Cirque Lodge Drug Rehab Center in Sundance. more on this story

Foo Fighters Doing Floyd, Thin Lizzy, McCartney, Prince and More

(Gibson) NME.com is reporting that Foo Fighters will celebrate Record Store Day next month with the release of a covers album. Medium Rare will be released on vinyl in participating stores on April 16.

The album will feature covers of artists including Paul McCartney and Wings, Cream, Thin Lizzy, Pink Floyd and The Ramones.

The album will also feature Dave Grohl and company's popular covers of Prince's "Darling Nikki" and Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street." Tracklisting

Black Country Communion Plan More US Shows

(Gibson) Joe Bonamassa's new album, Dust Bowl, breaks a lot of new ground for the blues rock guitar master. He picks and grins his way through country territory with the likes of Vince Gill and John Hiatt, and does a spaghetti western shoot-out on the title track — all in addition to his usual British blues bombastics. With a tweaked band lineup as he heads out on tour, Bonamassa has decided to take some of that unpredictability to the stage.

Bonamassa told PremierGuitar.com, "My new thing is, especially with the live show, every night we have a basic structure of what the songs are. And with our new drummer, Kyle Bergman, and the rest of the group here, we basically throw caution to the wind and try to make something new happen every night. And sometimes we fall flat on our face — or I do — and then, sometimes it's magic. And that's been my new concept I've been really getting into. So none of the solos are structured, ever. There's a few ins and outs, but all the actual block of the soloing is off the top of my head."

Regarding Bonamassa's other project, the supergroup Black Country Communion, the guitarist revealed that the band would soon be announcing more U.S. tour dates. "Yeah, I think we have like seven or eight shows that we're getting ready to announce coming up in the next couple of weeks." more on this story

The Kills Post Free Song Online

(Press Here) The Kills' are making the second track off their spring release, Blood Pressures, available for free.

The band gives a second glimpse of the forthcoming album with the track "DNA." The song features background vocals by The REV Gospel Collective.

In other The Kills news: the band will appear on CONAN on April 13th before making their way to Indio, CA for Coachella. The band has also tacked on an additional California show to their string of spring tour dates with a performance in LA on May 13th at The Music Box. Grab the free song here

The Cult Recording with Chris Goss

(Gibson) The Cult have returned to the studio to record their first album since 2007's Born into This. The group are joined in the studio by producer Chris Goss (Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, Mark Lanegan).

The band, now featuring singer Ian Astbury, guitarist Billy Duffy, bassist Chris Wyse, rhythm guitarist Mike Dimkich and drummer John Tempesta, has been releasing mini-album "Capsules" since fall 2010.

The band has released two of these multi-format projects already, the latest being Capsule 2: New Blood Deep Cuts, which included two new songs, classic live tracks and a tour of the band's rehearsal space. more on this story

Omar Rodriguez Lopez Spring Tour

The Mars Volta and At The Drive-In's Omar Rodriguez Lopez has announced North American headlining tour dates with his Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group.

The trek will be bookended by performances at next week's SXSW Music Festival in Austin, TX and the Coachella Festival in Indio, CA in April. Sibling band, Zechs Marquise will support most shows.

In April, Omar will also release a quadruple LP / double CD collection culled from his multiple solo and collaborative albums. The extensive 37-song (38 on the vinyl version) compilation of the guitarist's work, titled Telesterion showcases the variety and breadth of explorative artistry spread across his 25 (and counting) solo albums harvested for this release. more on this story

Agnostic Front's Roger Miret Talks New Songs

(Freeman) Agnostic Front will be releasing their latest album "My Life, My Way" on March 22nd in North America. Frontman Roger Miret recently took some time to reflect on the upcoming release and outlined each song track by track. Today will be the second installment of this series as Roger speaks about the first four songs on the album:

1. That's Life - In today's society, everyone is so busy behind their computer screens. Spreading hate and just bull sh*t behind their Internet walls. We speak about the youth getting sucked into this way of life and not dealing with real life situations the way we did as kids.

2. Self Pride - talks about what motivates me to strive to be the best person I could be. With the right amount of determination and integrity you can achieve almost anything! Self pride!! more on this story

Imogen Heap's Unconventional New Music Release Plans

RCA had this interesting announcement: Imogen Heap has announced plans to release the first song and video from her new album on March 28th, 2011.

However, the catch is... she hasn't written the song or any other material yet for the album. Imogen plans to gradually reveal the album over the next three years by writing and releasing a brand new track every three months. In true Imogen Heap fashion, she will be video blogging the entire process.

Rather than wait and release all the tracks as an album in the conventional way, Imogen plans to put the songs out as soon as they are ready and keep them relevant to the time they are created. Once she has completed enough tracks, she intends to release a proper physical / digital album. more on this story

Ace Frehley Rocks Hockey Game

(hennemusic) Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley played a post-NHL game concert in Tampa Bay Friday night, following the Lightning vs. Ottawa Senators matchup.

You'll recall that, a few weeks ago, the NHL team hung banners around the arena to promote the event- but the image used was of current KISS player Tommy Thayer dressed in his full Ace makeup and outfit.

The team was made aware of the error and reportedly changed up the image to match the real Ace. Frehley's setlist included "Rocket Ride," "Parasite," "Rock Soldiers," "Snowblind," "'New York Groove," "Sister," "Shock Me," "Love Gun," "Deuce" and "Cold Gin." Footage here

Norma Jean Explosions II Part Deux Tour

Norma Jean will be hitting the road this spring on the "Explosions II Part Deux" tour.

After The Burial, Motionless In White will be supporting Norma Jean along with For The Fallen Dreams and Stray From The Path.

The tour will kick off in Ft. Lauderdale on May 6th at Culture Room and conclude in their home state of Georgia in Augusta on June 1st. more on this story

China Law Down The Law To Bob Dylan

(Gibson) The Chinese government has finally cleared Bob Dylan to make his live debut in the country. Chinese authorities previously worried about Dylan's "anti-establishment" views. China's Ministry of Culture said that Dylan will be allowed to perform in Beijing between March 30 and April 12.

The approval notice requires that Dylan stick to a program, vetted by ministry officials, but didn't give specifics. Classic Dylan protest songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" could be banned, but no one is saying anything yet.

Dylan planned to play China in 2010, but the dates were canceled. Many fans blamed Dylan's Taiwanese promoter, though the promoter denied the allegations, saying cancelation was due to the Chinese Ministry of Culture demanding that Dylan sign a pledge promising "not to hurt the feelings of the Chinese people" during his performances. more on this story

Prince Going South

(42 West) Prince has declared a string of Purple days in the Carolina's, bringing his Welcome 2 America tour to the South for the first time with the announcement of 6 nights in North and South Carolina starting March 21st.

The announcement comes on the heels of three Oakland, CA shows and six shows in the New York area.

These shows will mark a homecoming for two members of The New Power Generation, drummer John Blackwell from North Carolina and vocalist/tambourine player Shelby Johnson from South Carolina. more on this story

Helix Recording New Songs For Compilation Album

(hennemusic) Helix are headed into the studio soon to record three new tracks for a new Best Of compilation due this Fall.

Helix frontman Brian Vollmer issued the following update: "In the next month we'll be going into A Studios to record three new tracks: "Champagne Communist," "When the Bad News Blues Come Calling" and "Angelina."

The three new songs will be used as 'bonus' tracks on a compilation CD set for a fall release entitled "Running Wild In The 21st Century - The Best Of 2000-2010." more on this story

Cerebral Bore Announce US Dates

(Earache) Cerebral Bore have announced a US tour in support of their forthcoming new album, Maniacal Miscreation.

Cerebral Bore will be headlining the tour, which runs throughout June and includes a headlining performance at the Las Vegas Deathfest on June 11th. Supporting the band on the tour will be Insidious Decrepancy, Trifixion and Merciless Precision.

Cerebral Bore guitarist Paul McGuire comments: "This will be our third trip to the US and we are looking forward to this tour in particular. Especially as we are headlining the awesome Las Vegas Deathfest. Last time we played Las Vegas, no one had heard of us, so to go back and headline a fest packed with bands we have listened to for years is a big thing for us, and a second trip to Area 51 won't go amiss either!" more on this story

Oasis Could Reunite Under Certain Circumstances

(Gibson) The world is only getting to grips with Liam Gallagher's new band Beady Eye, but ex-Oasis rhythm guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs has said that we would rejoin the original band for a charity gig.

"I'd play with them for a charity gig, of course," he told the Scottish newspaper The Daily Record. "We never fell out. People thought we had a dramatic fall-out and a fight but we never."

Bonehead was a founding member of the Manchester band, originally called Rain, but left Oasis in 1999. He recently left his latest band The Vortex. more on this story

Earth Tour

Earth have confirmed North American tour dates in support of their latest album, Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light 1.

Set to take place this June, Earth will tour through the Midwest and Northeast regions of America showcasing material from the new album and their new touring lineup to a dozen cities.

This newly announced string of North American dates will follow Earth's massive European tour with Sabbath Assembly which engulfs the entire months of April and May for the band. more on this story

The End Records Spring Sampler Donations To Benefit Japanese Earthquake Victims

(PR) The End Records announces its Spring '11 Sampler. This FREE Sampler features 12 tracks from our current roster at The End Records, including previously unreleased tracks from Anvil, Goes Cube, Braveyoung, Too Late The Hero, Novembers Doom and Dir En Grey, one of our artists based in Japan.

The band, who was luckily unharmed by the recent earthquakes and subsequent tsunami, were in the studio recording new music when the natural disaster unfolded.

The End staff was extremely relieved to learn that their friends Dir En Grey and other colleagues in Japan are safe, but are keeping those less fortunate in their thoughts and prayers. As result of the recent catastrophe, the label has decided to accept donations on behalf of anyone wishing to download the free sampler. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to victims in Japan via the American Red Cross, and no donation is too small. more on this story

The Man Who Could Have Managed The Beatles?

(Gibson) Irish TV presenter Gay Byrne, who hosted The Late Late Show for 37 years, claims he once turned down an offer to manage The Beatles, according to RTTNews.com. Speaking on Sir Michael Parkinson's Meaning of Life series, Byrne said that he was approached with the offer by Paul McCartney.

He explained, "When I worked in England before RTE, I introduced them for the first time on television. When the Beatles first came on our show, Paul McCartney asked [Parkinson] for [his] autograph for his mum."

"The third time they were in," he added, "Paul McCartney said they had no agent and asked me if I would manage them. Paul asked me to take on the job as manager, which I turned down for some reason. It was a real career choice. Anything was possible." more on this story

Eye Empire Spring Tour

(SKH) Eye Empire have announced a three-week Spring tour that will begin on March 16 in Sarasota, FL.

The origin of the band began in 2007 when Corey Lowery (Stuck Mojo/Stereomud/Dark New Day) and B.C. Kochmit (Switched/Dark New Day) started to construct what would eventually become the foundation of Eye Empire.

After two years of writing and searching for the right voice, Donald Carpenter (Submersed) joined the act in October of 2009. Long-time friend and extended family member Morgan Rose (Sevendust) tracked the drums for Moment of Impact. more on this story

Pathology, Grave and Blood Red Throne Tour

Pathology have confirmed North American tour plans with Grave and Blood Red Throne beginning Aug. 30 in Tampa, Florida.

"We're very excited to already be able to announce our next tour," says drummer Dave Astor. "We'll be opening for Grave, another legend in the death metal scene. This tour will be in support of a new album as we'll be recording this summer."

Before Pathology begins recording, the band is headed to Europe for five weeks of shows opening for Obituary and Grave, starting on March 24th. The dates will also include festival appearances at Paris Extreme Fest, Denmark's Royal Metal Fest and Holland's Neurotic Deathfest. more on this story

Lightning Swords Of Death Explain Tour Cancelation

(Submitted) Lightning Swords Of Death, who were slated to kick off a month-long U.S. tour supporting death metal legends Master last week, were forced to head back home when the headliners were prevented from entering the country.

Commented vocalist Autarch of the unfortunate tour cancellation: "Know this: Lightning Swords Of Death was thoroughly prepared for this tour only to be thwarted by circumstances beyond our control. I assure you all, we shall return with a vengeance in the near future. Already the black teet of kaos have begun to drip strange opportunity upon the ashes of this Master disaster. I shall reveal more details as they materialize."

Lightning Swords Of Death's The Extra Dimensional Wound, their second full-length, released via Metal Blade Records last year, was released on vinyl in December via Canonical Hours Records and is available as a deluxe gatefold LP featuring two 200-gram discs with a 12-page booklet and expanded artwork in a limited edition of 500 copies. more on this story

Former Iron Maiden Singer Paul Di'Anno Jailed

(Rock News Desk) Former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di'Anno has been jailed for nine months after admitting he falsely claimed £45,479 in incapacity benefit.

He'll spend at least four and a half months behind bars before being eligible for conditional bail.

Di'Anno, 52, real name Paul Andrews, was last month found guilty of claiming money in a total of eight offences committed between 2002 and 2008, and told at the time to expect a custodial sentence. He was found out when investigators saw video clips of him leaping around during stage shows, at a time when he'd said nerve damage meant he couldn't work. more on this story